JPH02126833A - Ct device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to fix a specific portion of a body without giving a oppressive feeling or pain by providing a patient's body fixing apparatus capable of being converted to its transformed condition where its form is freely transformable according to that of a body abutting thereto, or to it its fixed condition where its form is maintained. CONSTITUTION:A multitude. of expandable stylene beads are stored in a patient' s body fixing apparatus 11. The fixing apparatus 11 is transformable when containing a large amount of air therein and, when the inner air is released therefrom, becomes stiff and maintains its form that is has taken at the release of the air. The fixing apparatus 11 is initially filled with air and a patient P's head PH is placed thereon and then the air is released therefrom, to the extent that the fixing apparatus 11 is transformed while fitting with the form of the head PH and then becomes capable of maintaining its form. The head PH, even when it is likely to turn, can thus, be fixed, with a pressed feeling or pain being small. Additionaly, a surface coil 6 is stored in the fixing 11 to enable nuclear magnetic resonant signals to be collected.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is applicable to
The present invention relates to a device, and particularly to a technique for fixing a subject.

(Prior Art) As is well known, in this type of CT device, for example, an NMR-CT device, a subject is placed on the top plate of a bed device installed adjacent to a gantry dome, and the top plate is slid. in,
The subject is carried into the imaging space formed in the dome of the mount and is photographed.

A headrest is provided at one end of the top plate for placing the head of the subject. This headrest is formed into a substantially semi-cylindrical shape from FRP or the like to a predetermined size, and the subject's head is placed thereon directly or via a cushion made of urethane foam or the like. Additionally, this headrest can be fitted with head coils, surface coils, etc.

Photographing is performed with a subject placed on such a headrest and a top plate, but it takes several minutes to more than ten minutes to obtain one slice image.

At this time, since body movement of the subject causes artifacts in slice images, it is important to perform imaging with the subject stationary.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, although the cushion of the headrest relieves head pain, it does not fix the head because it is rounded and has poor stability. C
The T device was not provided with any means for preventing body movements of specific parts including the head. In addition, the specific part, for example, the head, is determined by its size and size for each subject.
Because the shapes are different, if you try to prepare a fixation device that fits around a specific area and fixes it, you would have to prepare a fixation device for each subject, which is actually impossible. . For this reason, attempts have been made to use fixation bands to fix specific parts to the top plate, but this method does not cause pain or pressure to the subject.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and aims to provide a CT apparatus that can securely fix a specific region while minimizing pressure and pain. .

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the CT apparatus according to the present invention, the object to be examined is identified on the top plate for placing the object in the imaging space formed in the gantry dome. Equipped with a subject fixing device that is provided for fixing a body part and can be arbitrarily brought into a deformed state in which the shape freely changes according to the shape of the object it comes into contact with, or in a fixed state in which the existing shape is maintained. The gist is:

Note that when applied to an NMR-CT apparatus, the subject fixing device preferably has a structure capable of housing a surface coil for receiving magnetic resonance signals therein.

(Function) By placing a specific part of the subject on the subject fixing device that has been deformed in advance and shifting the subject fixing device to the fixed state, it is possible to place a specific part of the subject on a subject fixing device that has been deformed in advance, and then move the subject fixing device to the fixed state. In contrast, a subject fixation device deforms in accordance with the shape of each part it comes into contact with and maintains the deformed shape, so it can securely fix a specific part with as little pressure or pain as possible. It is.

In addition, by storing the surface coil inside the specimen fixture,
The surface coil can be placed between the subject and the top plate without causing any pain to the subject, and by installing the surface coil in this way, it is possible to provide a means for holding the surface coil facing a specific area. Since it is not necessary to provide it, the configuration can be simplified.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the subject fixing device according to the present invention is applied to a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus.

This magnetic resonance imaging device is equipped with a control combiator l
The main part of the apparatus is a main body 2 which is controlled according to a pulse sequence.

This device main body 2 has a gantry dome 3 whose interior is an imaging space, and a static magnetic field coil 4 using a normal conduction or superconducting method, and a gradient magnetic field capable of generating a gradient magnetic field for imparting positional information of the induced site of nuclear magnetic resonance signals. A magnetic field coil 5, a whole-body coil (not shown) for transmitting a rotating high-frequency magnetic field for excitation, a surface coil 6 as a receiving system for detecting the induced nuclear magnetic resonance signal, and other components. It is equipped.

Also, on the bed device (not shown), there is a top plate 7 which is disposed on the bed device and is slidable along the longitudinal direction of the pedestal dome.
The subject P can be carried to any position within the dome 3 by sliding the top plate 7.

Although not shown, the main electrical system includes a static magnetic field control system that controls energization of a static magnetic field power source, a gradient magnetic field power source, a transmitter, a receiver, a sequencer that executes a predetermined pulse sequence, etc. These are controlled by the control computer 1. Furthermore, a display 8 such as a CRT for displaying the processed detection signal is also provided.

The basic operation of such a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is as follows. In other words, the object P under the static magnetic field
X, Y in three directions perpendicular to .

By applying gradient magnetic fields along the Z-axis and sending RF pulses of a predetermined pulse sequence to the whole-body coil, a high-frequency magnetic field for excitation is applied to a specific region of the subject P, causing a nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon. let A nuclear magnetic resonance signal (NMR signal) generated by this nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon
is sent to the control computer l via the surface coil 6,
The control computer 1 obtains biological diagnosis information of the subject P, and the content of the biological information is displayed as an image on the display 8.

An embodiment of the subject fixing device according to the present invention applied to such a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the figure, at one end of the top plate 7 in the longitudinal direction, there is a
A headrest 9 for maintaining head pH is provided. The headrest 9 is formed of FRP or the like onto a semi-cylindrical shape. A subject fixture 11 is placed on the top surface of the headrest 9 and has a size that is large enough to substantially wrap around the lower half of the head PH of the subject P. For this reason, the headrest 9 is molded to be larger than a conventional headrest that does not include the subject fixing device 11.

A large number of Styrofoam beads are housed in the subject fixture 11, and the size and shape of the subject fixture 11 can be arbitrarily changed depending on the amount of air contained within the beads. In other words, when the amount of air inside the specimen fixture 11 is large, the shape can be freely changed, but when the internal air is removed, the shape is hardened and maintained when the internal air is removed.

In order to adjust the amount of air inside the subject fixing device 11, an air adjustment port 12 is provided as shown in FIG.

Further, the subject fixing device 11 has a function of housing the surface coil 6. That is, an opening 13 is provided at one end through which the surface coil 6 can be taken in and out, and a bag-shaped surface coil storage section 14 that extends inside from this opening 13
The test subject fixing device 11 has a double bag structure. It goes without saying that when the surface coil 6 is not used during head PH imaging, a subject fixing device that is not provided with the surface coil storage section 14 may be used.

Next, the subject P using such a subject holder 11 is
The functions and effects during shooting will be described.

When photographing, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, the subject fixing device 11 is filled with air in advance, and the surface coil 6 is stored in the surface coil storage part 14 through the opening 13 of the subject fixing device 11. I'll keep it.

Then, the head PH of the subject 2 is placed on the subject fixing device 11 to the extent that the subject fixing device 11 can fit and deform into the shape of the head P) and firmly maintain the shape. Remove the air from the holder.

By deforming the subject fixing device 11 into the head PH shape in this way, even if the head PH is easily rotated, it is fixed and held by the subject holder 11, so that the head PH can be reliably adjusted. Magnetic resonance signals can be collected in a fixed state. Furthermore, the test can be performed with much less pressure and pain than when the device is fixed with a band or the like. Furthermore, the subject P does not have to pay attention to keeping itself stationary, and the burden on the subject P is reduced. Furthermore, the operator does not need to pay attention to the movement of the subject P, which reduces the burden on the operator.

Furthermore, by storing the surface coil 6 in such a subject fixing device 11, nuclear magnetic resonance signals can be collected by placing the surface coil 6 above and below the head PH without causing any pain to the head PH. It can be performed. Furthermore, there is no need to provide a device for holding the surface coil 6, simplifying the structure.

Cost reduction can be achieved.

In addition, such a subject fixing device 11 can be deformed any number of times by injecting air, and can maintain its original shape. It is economical because it can be used for subjects as well.

In the above embodiment, the subject fixing devices 11 are installed above and below the head PH, but multiple types of sizes and shapes are prepared so that they can be fixed to desired specific areas such as the legs and torso of the subject P. It can be used by inserting it between the body part and the top plate.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the CT apparatus according to the present invention, the shape of the object on the top plate changes freely in accordance with the shape of the abutting object in the deformed state, and maintains the existing shape in the fixed state. It is equipped with a specimen fixing device, which is deformed to match the shape of a specific part during the examination, and is maintained in the deformed state to minimize pressure and pain. It is possible to reliably brake specific parts that have different shapes and sizes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of an embodiment of the subject fixing device in a state in which a surface coil is housed, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to an applied example. 3... Mount dome 6... Surface coil 7... Top plate 9... Headrest 11... Subject fixture 14... Surface coil storage section

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Mounting frame Provided to fix a specific part of the subject on the top plate for placing the subject in the imaging space formed in the dome, and its shape can change freely according to the shape of the object it comes into contact with. 1. A CT apparatus comprising a subject fixing device that can be arbitrarily brought into a deformed state that maintains its shape or a fixed state that maintains its current shape. (2) The specific part of the subject is the subject's head, and the subject fixing device is disposed on a headrest for holding the subject's head provided on the top plate. The CT apparatus according to claim 1. (3) The CT apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the object fixing device has a structure capable of housing therein a surface coil for receiving magnetic resonance signals.